1. Filed of the Disclosure
This disclosure is generally directed to systems for applying a sealant to a work surface and, more particularly, to an apparatus and system for applying tissue sealant to biological tissue employing structure that facilitates controlled spray application of tissue sealant and passive control of gas pressure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various apparatus and systems have been disclosed for application of tissue sealants. One such disclosure is U.S. Pat. No. 7,537,174, entitled “Hand Triggered Tissue Sealant Spray Apparatus and System,” the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. An effective tissue sealant is a two-component tissue sealant made up of fibrinogen and thrombin. Because these two components react quickly with one another to cause clotting, it is desirable to isolate the two components from one another for as long as possible, until they are sprayed onto a target tissue site, such as a bodily organ.
A trocar device, which is known for use in laparoscopic surgical procedures, may be employed with an elongate delivery tube to deliver the two components, e.g., fibrinogen and thrombin, from a double-barrel syringe to a target tissue site. In order to spray the components of the tissue sealant onto a target tissue site, gas is introduced, such as through a Y-shaped spray adapter, as described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 7,537,174.
While such tissue sealing systems have been described and used, these systems limit the ability of the surgeon to direct the spray. With existing laparoscopically-introduced tissue spray systems, the surgeon can apply tissue sealant to a particular portion of a target tissue site, but then needs to withdraw the delivery tube at least partially into, or completely from, the trocar, reposition the delivery tube, then apply more tissue sealant to another portion of the target tissue site. This interrupted application of tissue sealant undesirably increases procedure time.
Another disadvantage of existing gas driven tissue delivery systems is the need for the surgeon or other medical professionals to carefully monitor the gas pressure introduced via the trocar to a bodily cavity. To perform most endoscopic, and in particular, laparoscopic procedures, the abdomen or other bodily cavity is filled with CO2 gas, controlled by a special controller device where the pressure range is preset and maintained by monitoring, automatically delivering more CO2 gas as needed. With certain newer controller devices, the release of gas from the bodily cavity may also be controlled. With such gas driven tissue delivery systems, an unacceptable increase of intracavity pressure may be realized if no venting is performed. In order not to overdistend the abdomen or other bodily cavity, and to avoid excessive pressure increase, the amount of gas employed for spraying should be limited. Moreover, the pressure on the surface of the target tissue to be sprayed should not exceed the pressure in small blood vessels, so as to avoid a gas embolism in the vasculature.
Venting can be accomplished by the surgeon by opening of a manually-operated valve at the trocar. Alternately, certain newer laparoscopic gas controller devices can actively control the supply of gas introduced into, or released from, the bodily cavity. However, these solutions require nearly-constant monitoring of intracavity pressure and pressure of gas, such as CO2 or helium, used in the spray device or otherwise introduced into the bodily cavity.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a laparoscopic tissue sealant spray delivery system and apparatus that speeds up procedure time and reduces the need for monitoring of the pressure of gas introduced into the bodily cavity, thereby permitting the surgeon or other medical professionals to pay more attention to other matters relating to the procedure.